[Ken Wainwright]

Yes Phil, I always carry the marigolds with me.  That pictures about 6 years old.  My marigolds are now sky blue to co-ordinate with the new bike

Safe and happy cleaning
Ken

[Susan Dean (1stclean)]

i think vans that say "its the best cleaning ever or it free"  look so tacky its realy put the company down , i mine why would you do this ? and people think the same most custys think you get northing free in life and will be abit more likely to ring someone that more upmarket looking

every cheap spash and dash c.c. im my area puts this on there vans  !i just laff at them . ..... 

[Neil Grainger]

1st

Really makes me look like a splash when I pull up at Marks & Spencers in Camberley and always get people taking leaflets off the Van and then phoneing for quotes.

This works, Some of the top Sole Traders in UK Carpet Cleaning use this method and it brings in the work. One in Bradford springs to mind and another in Devon.

Its each to their own but dont knock it until you've tried it.

[chrisg]

Thats not many success stories though (one in bradford one in Devon) cosidering it must be over a thousand done FT.

is it really only a handfull of success stories ?

[matt jones]

chris who is the successful ft you talk about in devon its just i know one and was wondering if it was the same person?
matt

[Susan Dean (1stclean)]

every thing will work until the cow boys start copying it then its worth less ! like the eco cleaning all well and good at the min until the cowboys click was going on then its over 

if it works for you then great i say just i think its looks cheap thats all and am not impressed with the standing outside of m and s thing at all i could post about  us fitting on the qe2 if you like  as my father and bother use to do the  jobs for durham carpets many years ago 

[Susan Dean (1stclean)]

I used many designs, JP included, none work, your hardly get anything from van signage.

When was the last time you wrote down a number off a van?

I never have.

your better off leaving it blank, it looks tacky signed any way.

vans do work i just got a phone call from nottingham asking for a price on a job as he seen the van in the petrol station !  the t.m. is on the way too HydraMaster guess he pulled in there for fuel 

[chrisg]

So when was the last time you wrote a number down off a van?

Its all a lot of ball, your get maybe 1 or 2 jobs a year. Is that worth the effort?

carry on kidding yourself if you like.

[matt jones]

chrisg what ft guy were you talking about when you mentioned devon?

[chrisg]

Neil said Devon, i was quoting him.

[matt jones]

oh yea so he did sorry chris so same question to neil then lol?
matt

[Neil Grainger]

Martin R is from Devon and the Guy in Bradford I cant remember but all the fast trackers should no him because he is the guy that charges £10 a metre.

There are quiet a few others that use it and do ok otherwise why would the fast trak courses not be full everytime they run.

If they did'nt work for the majority it would soon get out. The CC world is very small and most know a lot about whats going on.

Using it has worked for me but I only use things that I think would benifit my business like the signwriting on the van. Using Fast Trak marketing got me that commercial Job.

[Liahona]

The gentleman in Bradford is "Fluffy" Walker.  Funny though  I only know him as Fluffy although his name I think is Derek but what do I know.

Rightly so, Martin is the man in Devon

Neil, I think but I am not sure that Fluffy charges more than that now.  I hope so anyway as he was charging £10 a square meter two years ago.

£10 a meter is only around £1 a square foot so I think he is spot on for what he does and how he does it. 

Well done on getting the job.  Lot of work for what you ended up getting but the point is you did get it.

Best, Dave.

[matt jones]

Thought you meant martin he only lives about 8 miles from me got hold of one of his famous ft leaflets back along. Don't know the guy but nearly bought a machine of him through ebay when i was starting up.
matt

[AquaMagic]

I dont think its much about people writing the number down when they are driving, its more about customers neighboroughs seeing the van.  In a village local to me ive had serveral jobs from people how said they had seen the van about then called when a flyer dropped through their door,  I think its worth doing.

goto http://www.signsandshirts.co.uk/default.html

When had our van done for about £160, had to put it on the van ourselves but its not hard.


Dene

[Steve Chapman]

Just wondering about the "best cleaning ever or it's free" on the van, what happens if the customer turns around and says they are not convinced and want it for free?  lets face someones going to try it. :

Do you actually do it for free or is there a way around this?

just curious

steve

[Neil Grainger]

It only as good as you are at cleaning, Survey first explain to customers what will happen.

I tend to know if custy is going to try it on, Has happened once to me as it was an old man who thought he was a jack the lad. As always I cleaned the dirtiest part first and got him to check he said he was'nt happy, so I walked away. Funny thing is that he walked back over the carpet in welly boots that was obviously the reason for the state of the carpet in the first place.

Its works for me and its only a Gurantee that makes the customer feel safe, you only have to do what it says if you are not on the ball and doing a bad job.

Dave, not totally happy with price but think it will leed to more work on a maintenance basis, so will be worth more in the future.

Cheers

neil

[chrisg]

The down side of   "the most thorough....."   is it DOES raise expectations, there fore its probally  not a good idea to use it in your first year or 2 or 3 when your abilitys lower.

[ianharper]

guys

the USP you are talking about is Jim wolvertons from the USA he is one of JP members and wrote the pink leaflet.

what you should do is make up your own USP. by attaching yourself to someone else's you run the risk that a bad cleaner in your area also uses it.

i changed this USP to "like new carpet cleaning or your money back" but now have moved on to my Eco USP.

you will get linked to all the FT guys and sometimes that is not good. not that they are all bad. like anything you will get the odd one.

when making any marking judgement it should aways be based on results. as you may or may not know i rewrite my van about every year if i don't get any work from the signs. its a media and should pay for itself.

signage is cheap and can be got if you want to fit yourself for £50. (basic signage)

if you need to decide what to put on your van, test it in leaflets, as that's where "the most thorough" came from.

one last thing, I always thought that by putting offers on the van that it would work better. i found out that's its not so in my case.

respect

Ian Harper

[DanielWelford]

can someone tell me where you can obtain the card dispensers that you have stuck on your vans.

Cant see on ebay!!!

Ta

Dan